Real Estate Update

According to a recent article in the Los Angeles Times the housing market will continue to soften because prices are too high while the inventory is high. Some communities have at least a nine month supply of homes on the market. The sub-prime mortgage problems have led to some of these conditions as well as severe weather in the eastern part of the country. The National Association of Realtors announced the sharpest month-to-month fall in home sales since January 1989.

Some California housing markets are stronger than others with the Bay Area being the healthiest and the weakest is in the Inland Empire and the Central Valley. Southern California is mostly holding its own ground with the median price in March of this year being $505,000 up 4.6% over the previous March 2006. We are moving into the busy season and the inventory will continue to grow through the end of the summer when sellers either "throw in the towel" or cut their prices.

If you don't have to sell, this is probably the time to ride out the market. If you have to sell, carefully watch the trends in your neighborhood and be willing to enter the market at a competitive price. The first three weeks of a new listing is critical in generating interest from other agents and buyers. Don't make the mistake of entering the market too high to reduce your price and then be forgotten.